“I guess I can’t tease you about being scared of the cat, can I?”
Ken laughed and threw his arm over Ryan’s shoulder. “Unless I’ve turned into your very own scratching post in the last ten minutes, then no, no teasing.”
Ryan sighed then laughed. “How about we both agree that no one else finds about this?”
“Done.”
When they reached Mitch’s office, Ryan knocked. He could hear the lock clicking before the door cracked open. He pushed to open it, but Mitch blocked the way. Ryan could see Mitch peeping through the crack at them.
“Is it gone?” Mitch whispered.
Ryan tried his best to hold his laugh in. “Yeah, it’s gone. We just left it upstairs in the room with our mate.”
Mitch eyed them for another few moments before he finally ushered them inside and slammed the door. Once it was locked again, Ryan watched as Mitch sighed in relief before heading to his desk. “I already know why you guys are here. Had I known she was your mate, I would have warned you.”
“Warned us about what?” Ryan didn’t like the sound of Mitch’s voice. Whatever they were about to hear wasn’t going to be good. He snuggled on the couch closer to Ken and waited for Mitch to finish.
“It’s not my story to tell, but I think you should know why your mate is resisting you. When I ran her background, I found out Talia was mated to an Enforcer about five years ago. Unfortunately, Enforcer Alexander Westin was killed trying to take down a rogue about three years ago.”
Ryan felt his heart breaking for Talia. The sunken cheekbones and weariness he saw in her eyes made sense now that he knew about her loss. He was actually shocked, though. Normally, when one half of a mated couple dies, the other was quick to follow. Most died from a broken heart. Although he could smell the depression and misery all over Talia, she was still here. Ryan thanked fate she was strong enough to survive until they came along. Now, she not only had one, but two mates to help her get better.
“Why do I smell Percival all over this?”
Ken’s question brought Ryan’s attention back to him and Mitch. He had no idea how Ken came to that conclusion, but if it came out of the man’s mouth, Ryan had no doubt it was true.
“Our mate is so smart.”
Ryan agreed. He could feel his lion purring with pride. Ryan knew if he shifted, his lion would be rubbing himself all over Ken at that moment.
Mitch only lifted his eyebrow before answering. “That’s because the little weasel is. It took me a while to find the connection, but it’s there. Do you remember the dead enforcer we found when we went to Chicago to investigate Tessa’s rogue attack?”
Ryan and Ken both nodded. That was back when Mitch had first met Tessa when she had literally run right to his doorstep. Her and her son Nico were being chased by a rogue that should have been contained, but wasn’t. Tessa’s attack was what brought former Councilman Percival and his plans of shifters going public and taking over the world to their attention.
Mitch continued. “It seems Enforcer Donovan and Westin were best friends. When Enforcer Westin was killed, Donovan investigated. I hacked Donovan’s council e-mail account when I saw it was still active. There was an encrypted e-mail there that the enforcer sent to himself. When I opened it, it was basically all the evidence he had found that proved Westin’s death wasn’t some random rogue, but a deeper conspiracy. Donovan didn’t list any names, but I’m guessing he must have gotten too close to the truth and Percvival had him killed.”
Ryan nodded. Everything Mitch said made sense. The fact that Percival had managed to weasel himself into everyone’s lives, and make them miserable, irritated the hell out of Ryan. The man needed to be found and taken out as soon as possible. Another thought struck him. “Does Talia know about any of this?”
“From everything I could find, she thinks Westin’s death was a standard attack and the rogue was just stronger than her mate.” Mitch stood. “Let’s get some sleep. We’ll figure everything out in the morning.”
Ryan wanted to bristle at Mitch’s use of the word mate. Talia may have been mated before, but he and Ken were her mates now. But Ryan kept his mouth shut and agreed with Mitch. He wanted nothing more than to curl up around Ken and sleep. His other mate in bed with him as well would have been perfect, but Ryan could be patient after what Mitch had just told them.
“Oh.” Mitch pulled a bottle from his desk drawer and a comb and handed it to Ryan. “If your mate insists on keeping that”—Mitch cut himself off and gagged—“just take it.”
He shoved the bottle and comb in Ryan’s arms before heading to the door. After peeking out, Mitch practically ran up the stairs toward his room.
Ryan stared down at the bottle in his hand and busted out laughing until he doubled over. Wiping the tears from his eyes, he held the bottle up for his mate. “It’s a bottle of conditioner.” He shouldn’t have been surprised with it coming from Mitch.
Chapter 3
Talia rolled over in bed and groaned. After tossing and turning all night, she had finally dozed off. Now as she glanced at the clock, she realized she had only been asleep for about two hours. It was eight in the morning and thanks to her enhanced hearing, she could also hear people up and moving around. It sounded like someone was also cooking breakfast.
Talia wished she could have curled up and gone back to sleep. Instead, she wrapped herself around Tiny and snuggled him against herself, letting his rumbling purr soothe her. She knew Tiny wasn’t much to look at, but Talia didn’t care. She loved the cat like he was her child and wouldn’t take anything for him. He was always there for her no matter if she was depressed and couldn’t get out of bed for days at a time, which happened quite often. Tiny always seemed to know when she needed to cuddle and he never left her side. If it wasn’t for him, she didn’t think she would have survived this long. After the loss of her mate, Tiny gave her someone to care for. He loved her, and there was no way she could just check out like she wanted to and leave him behind.
She thought of the two men she met yesterday. Ryan was adamant she was his mate, and it didn’t slip past her when Ken had called her mate either. They both intrigued her and Talia knew they were her mates. She felt the pull to be near them even as she lay in bed. The problem was, she didn’t want another mate. Now, it seemed fate was laughing at her by giving her not one, but two.
Talia thought of how they both had held her the night before. They each felt different, but they had both felt like home. It was a feeling she hadn’t experienced in three years, not since her mate had died. She craved that feeling, but she pushed the thought away. There was no way she could get involved with either Ken or Ryan. Rubbing her hand through Tiny’s patchy fur, Talia gave herself a mental pep talk so that she could get out of bed. If she had her way, she would stay curled around her cat and lie there all day. She couldn’t do that, though. She had come to do a job and in order to do that, she needed to get out of bed and get showered.
“Come on, Tiny. If I have to get up, so do you.” She could swear Tiny groaned before he stood and waddled to the edge of the bed. Talia smiled. It seemed he didn’t want to leave the room any more that she did. She grunted and hefted the cat in her arms and sat him on the floor when he just stared at her from the edge of the bed. She knew Tiny could have jumped down on his own, but the cat was lazy. She could only blame herself.
She headed for the bathroom and noticed there was another door on the other side. Once she made sure it was locked, Talia stripped out of her pajamas. Looking at herself in the mirror, she shook her head. “We are quite the pair, Tiny.” She told him. He was watching her from the bathroom rug. “It seems you need to lose weight, and I need to gain some.”
Talia wondered what Ryan and Ken thought of her. She looked frightening, even to herself. Her once healthy body had shrunk down until she was nothing but skin and bones. If Talia had to guess, she couldn’t have weighed any more than 105 pounds and that was pushing it. She could count each and every rib, and her pro
truding hip bones weren’t any better. Talia turned her back to the mirror and looked over her shoulder. Just as she suspected, every knot of her spine stuck out. If Xander saw me now, he would be so disappointed. Talia felt the familiar prickle of tears at the thought. Blinking to keep them back, she moved away from the mirror to turn the shower on. As she moved past the other door, a muffled thump and then a groan drew her attention. Talia froze and listened. She didn’t know who was on the other side of the door, but it sounded like someone had fallen. Her medical training kicked in when she heard another moan and Talia gripped the knob.
She had the door barely cracked when the scent of lust, combined with the smell of green apples and spring rain, assaulted her. She knew Ryan was in the room. When the scent of forest and citrus hit her, she knew Ryan was not alone. She eased the door open as quietly as possible until she could see inside the room. What she saw should have been obvious, but it still shocked her. Talia knew both Ryan and Ken claimed she was their mate, but it had never crossed her mind that they were mated to each other as well. Judging by what was currently going on in the bedroom, she knew they were linked. In more ways than one. Talia slapped her hand over her mouth as she snickered at the thought before peeping through the crack again.
She felt naughty for watching their intimate moment, but she couldn’t bring herself to turn away. Ken was a very large man compared to Ryan, but the way he held Ryan’s hips gently in large hands as he pounded into him from behind fascinated her. Talia’s mouth went dry at the sound of skin slapping against skin and Ryan’s moans. The man had his head thrown back and his mouth wide open. The look of complete bliss on his face told her more than anything that he was truly enjoying himself. She felt her breathing change to match his and resisted the urge to moan when he did.
The scene before her was the sexiest thing she had ever seen in her life. Talia had never watched two men having sex. She had never watched anyone, let alone two men, but for the life of her she couldn’t turn away. She felt herself getting wet and clenched her thighs together to try and relieve the growing ache in her pussy. Ryan and Ken were making her have feelings she never thought she would feel again after Xander died.
The thought of her dead mate was like a bucket of ice water being poured on her. Talia eased the door closed as the guilt began churning in her gut. Her mate was dead and she was lusting after two men she knew nothing about.
Talia stepped into the shower and let the spray of water wash the tears from her face. She knew Xander wouldn’t have wanted her living like she was. He would have wanted her to move on with her life and be happy if she could. It wasn’t him holding her back. It was her. Anytime she thought of moving on and being happy, she was crushed by crippling guilt. How could she be happy without her mate? How could she move on with her life when Xander would never have that chance ever again?
Pushing her thoughts aside before she spiraled into a depression that she wouldn’t come out of for days, Talia washed herself on autopilot and got out of the shower. She let her mind go blank as she dressed. She hated feeling like a robot, but sometimes it was the only way she could make it through the day. “Come on, Tiny. Let’s go get you something to eat.” She picked him up as she left the room, not wanting another incident like the night before.
Talia could hear the conversation coming from the kitchen and knew there were way more people in there than she had met the night before. She stopped at the door and took a breath before she walked in. All conversation stopped and everyone turned to look at her. Talia wanted to run back to her bed and throw the covers over her head, but she steeled her spine and stood there.
“Holy sh—crap!” A man that she hadn’t met yet shouted. “I thought you were exaggerating, Mitch. She really does have a zombie cat.”
Talia didn’t know whether to be offended or amused when the man threw his head back and laughed, slapping the table several times.
“That’s my mate Ben. Just ignore him.” The woman smiled and held her hand out. “I’m Jacqueline.”
Talia had to shuffle Tiny to one side, which wasn’t easy, before she could shake Jacqueline’s hand. She noticed the woman looked to be about four or five months pregnant. “Hi, I’m Talia and this is Tiny.” Her cat’s name seemed to set the man she now knew as Ben off again as he chuckled and wiped tears from his eyes.
“He thinks he’s a comedian.” Jacqueline grinned at her mate.
The look she gave Ben had Talia on the verge of crying. She wondered if she had ever had that look when she looked at Xander. She didn’t doubt it. She had loved the man with every ounce of her soul.
“Come on and sit. We usually don’t wait on each other to eat breakfast. We just kind of eat when we wander in.”
Talia followed Jacqueline and took an empty seat at the table. She recognized Mitch from the night before. The look of horror was still on his face as he stared at Tiny. She wasn’t even aware she still held him in her arms. Leaning over, she sat the cat on the floor next to her chair, where he brushed against her leg a few times before settling next to her foot.
“I’m Tessa, Mitch’s mate and the reason you’re here. I would get up to shake your hand, but the food would be cold by the time I got out of this chair.” She pointed to the small boy sitting between Mitch and Ben, staring at her with ice-blue eyes. “That’s my son Nico.”
Talia smiled at Nico. He looked to be about three and was too cute for words. She loved kids. It was the reason she went to school to become a midwife. “Hello, Nico, it’s very nice to meet you.” The boy grinned and Talia’s heart melted.
With all the introductions made, other than Ryan and Ken, everyone turned their attention toward the food. Talia noticed the mountain of food, so she didn’t feel bad when she grabbed a few pieces of bacon and some eggs and put them on a napkin. She then grabbed a biscuit and split it open before spreading butter and strawberry jam on it. Once that was done, she placed the biscuit on the napkin with the bacon and eggs, then sat it on the floor for Tiny.
When Talia sat up, she noticed the kitchen had gone silent aside from Nico, who had his head under the table giggling. She also noticed both Ken and Ryan standing in the door of the kitchen staring at her. Ken had his large arms crossed over his chest and didn’t look happy. “What?” she asked. Talia could feel her cheeks heating as she blushed and wondered if Ken somehow knew she had spied on them. Was that why he was angry?
“You feed your cat strawberry jam?” Ben asked as he smirked.
Talia thought it was strange that out of everything she had fixed Tiny, the man had focused on that one thing. “It’s his favorite,” was the only thing she said. When Ben started cracking up again, Talia realized he was going to be one of those annoying people who were always happy. She envied him. It had been so long since she was happy. She couldn’t even remember what the emotion felt like.
She figured the men were done glaring at her from the door when Ken pulled out a chair next to her and Ryan sat directly across from her. She couldn’t look at either of them without picturing the scene in the bedroom.
“Did Tiny get enough to eat?”
She closed her eyes when Ken’s question rumbled in her ear, sending shivers down her spine. Unable to find her voice, she could only nod.
“Good.”
That was all he said before Ken started to load her plate with food. Talia’s eyes got wider with each thing he put on her plate. Even if she was hungry, there was no way she could have even eaten that much. She didn’t want to argue with the big man, so Talia kept her mouth shut. She learned a long time ago from Xander how stubborn male shifters could be. They were like cavemen and she had to learn to pick and choose her battles. When it seemed Ken was satisfied she had enough food on her plate and started fixing his own, Talia took her fork and pushed most of it to the side. She opened a biscuit and placed a spoon full of eggs on it and a piece of bacon before pressing the biscuit back together. Happy with her breakfast and hoping she would be able to finish it, Talia bega
n to eat.
* * * *
Edmund Percival threw his phone across the room when his contact refused to answer his phone and watched as it shattered into pieces when it slammed into the wall. It was the third phone he had broken that week, but he didn’t care. Edmund was too angry to care. His plans were ruined and he blamed the enforcers and his daughter for the betrayal. Instead of supporting him in creating a better future for shifters everywhere, they had ruined everything.
Now, Edmund had nothing. All of his rogues were dead courtesy of his sniveling daughter and he had no way of making any new serum thanks to the enforcers. They had put the word out about his plans and turned the whole shifter society against him. No one wanted to join his cause, leaving him alone with nothing. He couldn’t understand why they didn’t see things his way. His species was far more superior to the weak pathetic humans. Edmund had no idea why they were still hiding in the shadows when they could be ruling the world.
For so long he had been so focused on his goal of shifter domination that nothing else had mattered. Edmund grinned. Now, he had a new goal. Mitch Ericson and his friends had ruined Edmund’s life and taken away the one thing he wanted most in the world. He figured it was only fair to return the favor. His new ambition in life was making Mitch and his friends as miserable as possible before he took their lives. He planned on starting with their mates. He would take them away one by one until the men were begging him to let them die so they could join their mates in the afterlife.
Feeling better about his new goal, Edmund set about gathering everything he needed. He had been at this safe house too long and it was time to move on to a new one. Not only had shifters turned against him, but every enforcer in the council was looking for him. Thanks to his daughter’s betrayal, Edmund was running low on places to hide. Most of his safe houses had been raided and destroyed and he had no doubt it was because she had given the enforcers the information on how to find them. Edmund was thankful he was paranoid enough to have a few safe houses that only he knew about. Still, he would be stupid to stay in one any longer than necessary.
Until the End of Time [Council Enforcers 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 3
